Issue date
The latest edition of New Zealand yachting's safety encyclopaedia - the Safety Regulations 2025 to 2028 - is out now.
Authored and administered by Yachting New Zealand, these regulations provide a safe but achievable standard of design and equipment appropriate for the conditions boats can expect to encounter.
It is essential reading for all regatta organisers, skippers and boat owners and is used by all Yachting New Zealand safety inspectors.
According to Yachting New Zealand safety and technical officer Cris Brodie, one significant change to the previous edition published in 2021, is to the definition and responsibility of the "person in charge".
"The new wording in Yachting New Zealand’s Safety Regulations of Sailing 2025 to 2028 relating to a yacht’s helmsperson, captain, master or skipper now designates that role as the ‘person in charge’," Brodie said.
"That person has full responsibility for the safe operation of the vessel as well as the safety and wellbeing of the crew. It states that the person in charge must provide 'appropriate training'. This should include a crew briefing to highlight safety equipment locations, emergency procedures and hazards specific to their vessel."
What does that mean for the average cruising or racing sailor in New Zealand?
"Whether you are taking friends for a short-day cruise or regularly racing with crew, the person in charge must provide appropriate training before departure.
"One of the most important parts of this is to explain emergency procedures and point out any hazards. This becomes even more important if you have a person onboard who is not familiar with your boat or a last-minute crew replacement who has not sailed on your boat before running down the dock late for a Wednesday night race!
"There is no excuse not to brief your crew and if running late it could also be done motoring out to the start for a race. It can be a good idea to rotate this duty within the crew to keep everyone engaged and taking the safety message seriously."
While Yachting New Zealand provides a briefing checklist for this purpose (link here), Brodie urges sailors to also consider their intended trip and dangers particular to their yacht.
"This includes navigational hazards, expected sea state and weather conditions leading to increased falling overboard risk, steep companionways and holding on while down below, fingers in winches, running backstays and booms or mainsheet hazards during gybes."
The latter is one of the most common causes of fatalities on yachts during racing and cruising and is another important focus of the new safety regulations.
"Part of any briefing, crew training and drills should include the management and hazards related to the use of the mainsheet on your vessel, in particular, during gybing," Brodie said.
"Many recent fatalities have been caused by crew being hit by an uncontrolled mainsheet - often in the cockpit - and being flung across the boat and colliding with a hard object resulting in a serious injury. These incidents are not always the result of being hit directly by the boom."
Preventers, a line attached to the outboard end of the boom running forward to the bow which can be quickly released, are now recommended by both Maritime New Zealand and the new Yachting New Zealand Safety Regulations 2025-2028 during times of increased risk of accidental gybing.
"This could be due to sea state, sailing at night, angle to the wind being sailed, helmsperson experience or being under autopilot. We understand they are another thing to manage, and some will say not practical for racing, but they do effectively mitigate the risk of a crash gybe and could save someone’s life.
"'Boom brakes' - though not recommended for racing - are a suitable alternative which is used by many offshore cruising boats. In the case of a crash gybe, this absorbs the shock loads which is less likely to cause damage to the boom, vang or gooseneck fitting."
